Baseball mitt



April 28, 1942. H. B. LATINA BASEBALL MITT l/we/vron; RY 5.11: INA WYM ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 28,1942

Harry B. Latina, East St. Louis,

111., assignor to Rawlings Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri.

Application September 12, 1940, Serial No. 356,442

1 Claim.

This invention relatesto baseball mitts.

The main object of my invention is to provide a baseball mitt, which is of such design or construction that when it is subjected to the pressure of a caught ball, it will automatically close around the ball in a more eiiective manner than is possible with baseball mitts. of conventional construction.

Another object is to provide a baseball mitt, in which the portions of the mitt that constitute a pocket for a caught ball, are of such shape and dimensions that the mitt is better balanced on the users hand than mitts of conventional design.

Another object is to provide a baseball mitt that complies with the rules, regulations and requirements pertaining to such devices, and which has a ball back-stop that is more efiicient than those employed in mitts of conventional construction, in that the ball contacting surfaces of same is of greater area, and moreover, is curved so as to conform approximately to the shape of the ball. I p

And still another object of my invention is to provide a baseball mitt, which is of such design or construction that it ha sufficient inherent flexibility to overcome the, necessity of the user breaking in the mitt, or molding a ball depression or recess in same the mitt into use.

The conventional baseball mitt now in general use, comprises two main padded portions, to wit, a relatively narrow thumb portion in which the users thumb is inserted, and a relatively wide finger portion in which the users fingers are inserted, the space or gap between said two portions being. bridged by a plurality of horizontally-disposed strands, thongs, or lacings that constitute a back-stop, which when struck by a caught ball, tends to cause the mitt to automatically close around the ball. Due to the fact that the padded finger portion is relatively stifi and exceedingly wide and thick, the only part of the mitt which actually moves or has a hinge action under influence of the pressure exerted by the ball on the back-stop, is the narrow thumb por tion. Moreover, as the padded portion of the mitt in which the users fingers are positioned is many times the width and weight of the thumb portion, the mitt, when opened up to receive a bill, is lop-sided, or considerably heavier on one side than on the other. In fact, there is an in -herent tendency for the mitt to turn on the users hand, due to the eccentricity of the relatively wide and heavy finger portion relatively preparatory to putting to the thumb portion, and in the operation of catching a ball, thi tendency is increased,-due to the movement or hinging action of only one portion of the mitt, to wit, the thumb portion.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned objectionable features of baseball mitts-of conventional construction, I have devised a mitt which is composed of a padded thumb portion and a padded finger portion of somewhat near the same size and weight, and a ball back-stop between" said two portions composed of a central backstop of substantial width, whose opposite side edges or vertical edges are joined or'connected by thongs, strands, lacings, or any other suitable flexible, skeleton-likestructures to said finger portion and thumb portion. The central member of said back-stop is constructed so as to constitute an integral portion of the front and back facing pieces of the mitt, and it is preferably made of approximately the same length as the thumb and finger portions. It is padded in substantially the same manner as the palm portion of the mitt, and virtually constitutes an integral extension of the palm portion that projects upwardly from the same. It may be made of a width only slightly less than the thumb and finger portions. The preferable way of employing the mitt, is to insert the thumb in the thumb portion and insert all of the fingers in the finger portion, thus causing the intermediate back-stop member to be arranged at the center of the crotch between the thumb and index finger.

When the mitt is in use, the pressure exerted by a caught ball on the central member of the back-stop causes both the finger portion and the thumb portion to move inwardly, or towards each other, due, of course, to the pull exerted on said thumb and finger portions by the strands, thongs, lacing, or equivalent means attached to said portions and to the opposite side edges of the central member of the back-stop. The method of attaching the thongs, lacings or strands to the central back-stop member and to the thumb and finger portions which flank said member is immaterial, but it is preferable to use thongs, strands, or lacings that can be adjusted so as to change the relative position and angle of the three padded parts of the mitt, to wit, the central back-stop member and the thumb and finger portions located at the opposite sides of and thus in effect contract the ball pocket, or

impart more overhang to the top side portion of the pocket. Notwithstanding the factthat the finger portion of the mitt is spaced relatively far away from the thumb portion, the back-stop will conform accurately to the curvature of the ball, because the central member oflthe backstop is of substantial width and is curved forwardly slightly in such a way that it follows the curvature oi the palmportion of the mitt with which it is integrally joined.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a perspective view 01 a baseball mitt constructed in accordance with my invention, looking at the front side of the mitt.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of said mitt, looking sideways at same, and showing how the central back-stop member curves forwardly; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view, illustrating another way of combining the thongs, lacings, or strands with the three padded parts of the mitt which said strands Join together.

In the drawing the reference character A designates the thumb portion of a baseball mitt that is adapted to receive the users thumb, and B designates a finger portion, constructed in such a way that all of the user's fingers can be inserted in same, said thumb and finger portions being integrally connected with the palm portion C of the mitt. The gap between the thumb portion A and finger portion B is bridged by a ballback-stop of novel construction that comprises a central back-stop member D arranged between said finger portion and thumb portion, as shown in Figure 1, and strands, lacings, thongs, or any other suitable flexible, skeleton-like structures E attached to said central member D and to the thumb and finger portions A and B that flank the same. The front side of the mitt is formed by a facing piece made of leather or equivalent material, and the back side of the mitt is formed by a back facing piece made of leather or equivalent fiexible material. These two front and back facing pieces are of substantially the same shape or outline and the marginal edges of the same are joined together in any suitable way so as to produce three substantially hollow parts A, B and D that communicate with the interior of the hollow central portion of the mitt inside of which the palm and back of the users hand is positioned. The palm portion C, the thumb and finger portions A and B, respectively, and the backstop member D are padded, but the padding material is arranged on the interior of the shell formed by the front and back facing pieces of the mitt, and is disposed so as to produce a streamlined mitt that accurately balanced on the users hand, and which comprises three separated, padded parts A, B and D, that are capable of flexing or moving freely relatively to each other, as hereinafter explained, in the operation of catching a ball. The width of the said three elements A, B and D may vary, but in most instances the finger portion B will be made only a trifle wider than the thumb portion A and the central back-stop member D will be made only a trifle narrower than the thumb portion A. Thus, it will be seen that my improved mitt comprises three padded parts of about the same general size or dimensions, arranged with the back-stop member D disposed at approximately the center of the mitt between the thumb and finger portions, in a position where said back-stop member virtually forms a continuation or extension of the palm portion C of the mitt.

When the mitt is in use, the force or pressure exerted by a caught ball on the central backstop member D causes both the thumb portion and finger portion to be drawn inwardly or towards each other, into snug engagement with the ball, thereby effectively retaining the ball in the mitt, the inward movement or the thumb and finger portions A and B, respectively, being effected, of course, by the pull exerted on same by the thongs or equivalent means E when the ball strikes the central member D of the back- Stop.

when a mitt of the construction above described is mounted on the users hand. it is quite accurately balanced, because the central backstop member D is disposed centrally of the crotch between the thumb and index finger, in an upright position where it virtually constitutes a forwardly-curved, extension piece of the palm portion of the mitt that overhangs a caught ball and counteracts the tendency of the ball to travel upwardly, out of the pocket formed by the three padded sections A, B and D of the mitt, the padded thumb portion and finger portion that flank the central back-stop member D being of such relative size that there is no tendency for one to overbalance the other. Such a mitt is also less cumbersome and more convenient to use, as there is no excess material in the finger portion B of the mitt. It will thus be seen that by dividing the padded area of the mitt into three symmetrically-disposed sections of more or less the same general size, I have produced a mitt that is not bulky or unwieldly, and which has a better balance on the users hand than baseball mitts of conventional construction. Such a mitt is also more eflicient than mitts of conventional design, because the finger portion and the thumb portion both pivot or move inwardly towards each other under the influence of the pressure exerted by the ball on the back-stop member D, thereby tending to hold the ball in the palm portion at the center of the mitt in a more effective manner than is possible in a mitt having only one hinged or movable padded portion, to wit, a relatively narrow thumb portion that moves inwardly towards a relatively wide and stiff finger portion. Still another very desirable characteristic or feature of my improved mitt is that it is exceedingly flexible and does not have to be broken in or molded by the user preparatory to putting the mitt into use. This, of course, results from the fact that the padded area of the mitt is divided into a central part flanked by two side parts, that in effect are hinged to said central part, and which have a natural or inherent tendency to close over or around the ball when the pressure of a caught ball is exerted on said central part. All the desirable features above mentioned are attained without substantially increasing the cost of the mitt, and without departing from the rules, regulations and requirements pertaining to baseball mitts.

The mitt shown in Figures 1 and 2 is of the type in which the front and back facing pieces of the mitt are joined together by a lacing I, inserted in eyelets 2 in said facing pieces. When the mitt is constructed in this manner, the thongs, strands, or lacings E of the ball back-stop may be intertwined with the loops of the lacing I at the opposed side edges of the thumb portion A and central back-stop member D, and at the opposed side edges of the finger portion B and the central back-stop member D, the ends of said thongs E adapted to be inserted through eyelets in the facing members and then tied to produce knots E, which hold said thongs in adjusted position. As previously explained, it is immaterial how the thongs, strands, or lacings E are combined with the elements which they join together, and in order to make this point clear, I have illustrated in Figure 3 a baseball mitt embodying my invention, wherein the thongs, strands, or lacings E that join the thumb and finger portions A and B to the central back-stop member D, are inserted in eyelets 3 in the opposed side edges of said portions and central member D.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a

A baseball mitt whose front and back sides are formed by facing pieces of flexible material, each of which is cut or shaped so as to produce a center portion having three projections or extensions separated from each other by gaps, said facing pieces being arranged in superimposed or'substantially parallel relation and the corresponding parts of said pieces having their marginal edges connected together so as to produce a flexible shell comprising a palm portion, a hollow thumb portion, a hollow finger portion designed to receive all of the fingers of the users hand, and a back-stop portion arranged intermediate said thumb and finger portions and separated from same by gaps, padding material on the interior of said shell for padding the respective portions of same, and flexible, skeleton-like structures for bridging the gaps between the central back-stop portion and the thumb and finger portions and connecting to same for causing the thumb and fingers of the users hand to be drawn inwardly towards each other by the force or impact of a caught ball on said back-stop portion.

HARRY B. LATINA. 

